Lostroh loses ground

By Keith Ryan Cartwright
Posted Saturday, October 3, 2009

PORTLAND, Ore. (October 3, 2009) - Kody Lostroh has said he’s not going to be looking over his shoulder.

But he might want to look at it.

For the fourth time in four events, the world leader came down hard on his shoulder.

Noting that Lostroh’s “not riding cautiously,” nine-time World Champion Ty Murray said Lostroh is going to be tested from here on out, and that the only question he has is how long the shoulder will hold up.

Lostroh came down short of the whistle Friday night in the opening round of the GoDaddy.com Invitational in Portland, and Murray said that he thought the Enterprise rider was “bearing down and doing what it takes.”

“Doubts come when injuries arise,” said Lostroh, who in a Versus profile added that he’s not focused on the outcome, but is instead focusing on the process.

Lostroh looked sharp last week in Ontario, Calif., going a perfect 3-for-3 in winning his fifth Built Ford Tough Series of 2009 and extending his lead to 1,107.5 points over second-place Guilherme Marchi.

One of the most technically correct riders on tour, Lostroh did an exceptional job of staying out over his bull rope last week. But on Friday on Team Equine’s High Roller, he found himself out of position and leaning back, adding to the strain on his left shoulder.

The crowd inside the Rose Garden Arena held its collective breath when he was whipped head-over-heels and slammed to the ground 6.5 seconds out.

The buckoff gave Marchi, J.B. Mauney and anyone else with a thought of winning a world title this year an opportunity to gain ground.

Although he finished fifth in the round, Marchi did everything he could on Boomtown. With a bull score of just 41.75, the overall 85.5-point effort showed the defending World Champion remains focused and poised to make a legitimate run at becoming the first rider in PBR history to win back-to-back world titles.

Marchi said he’s and “still hungry.”

His 85.5 points in addition to the 60 bonus points for finishing fifth brings the Brazilian to within less than 1,000 points of Lostroh. It was his seventh consecutive ride after bucking off three in a row in Reno – the first time in more than two years he did so at a three-day event – and he will look to make it eight straight in Round 2 on Major Infraction.

“To me, what stands out is the fact that none of (the Top 3 contenders) are allowing the others to run away with it,” said Murray, who described this year’s Road to Vegas as the “greatest dog-fight race we’ve had in the PBR.”

Mauney may not have lost any ground – he’s 1,118.5 points behind Lostroh – but the North Carolina native bucked off for the third time in his past four outs, going back to when he came down short of the whistle during the championship round in Springfield.

While Marchi is in a position to finish in the Top 5 for the fourth time in the past five BFTS events, both Lostroh (who has made eight straight appearances in the short round) and Mauney will have to try and make it back on one score.

The last time Lostroh didn’t compete in the championship round was when he missed it in Worcester, Mass., after injuring his left elbow in Omaha, Neb.

Josh Koschel won the opening round of the GoDaddy.com Invitational presented by Cooper Tires. He rode his re-ride bull, Frank the Tank, for 87.5 points, and leads Robson Palermo by .25 point.

At the other end of the standings, Billy Robinson and Brendon Clark both made the whistle and hope to win money this weekend, as they make a late-season attempt to qualify for the upcoming World Finals in Las Vegas.

Robinson, who is 43rd in the Qualifier Standings, finished the round tied with Valdiron de Oliveira for sixth and seventh with 85.25 points. Meanwhile, Clark earned 82.25 points, and more importantly, the Aussie bought himself some confidence after four straight buckoffs.

“Everything’s going against me,” said Clark, who added that he doesn’t have anything to lose.

Robinson went into the weekend slightly more than $1,600 behind Elliott Jacoby, and Clark was a full $8,500 back. Robinson is now $1,327 back.

The bottom five riders who currently qualify for Vegas – Jacoby, 40; Reese Cates, 39; Ben Jones, 38; Rocky McDonald, 37 and Bryan Richardson, 36 – all bucked off in Round 1.

In all, there were 14 qualified rides in Round 1, with Koschel at the top of the leader board. Koschel is followed by Robson Palermo (87.5), Shane Proctor (87.25), Sean Willingham (86.5) and Marchi (85.5).

The final two rounds wrap up tonight beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific.

Round 2 can be seen tonight on Versus beginning at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, and championship round will be broadcast Sunday afternoon on CBS. Please check local listings for times in your area.

NEWS and NOTES

Road to Vegas: All roads are leading to Las Vegas! At this time of the season the PBR is all about the World Finals, which is Oct. 30 through Nov. 8. Call 866-PBR-SHOW for ticket information or log onto www.unlvtickets.com to order your tickets for what will be one of the tightest finishes for the world title.

Tweet, tweet: Be sure to follow the PBR on Twitter at www.twitter.com/teampbr.